TODAY is the first Sunday in 10 months that Julie Nadian will be able to spend with her three cats Ziggy, Tuppence and William after an ill-conceived and ultimately failed prosecution by the RSPCA.

Julie Nadian has been reunited with her three cats[HULL NEWS AND PICTURES]

Yet again the organisation that once commanded respect in the hearts of animal-loving Britons has displayed newer and more ominous colours, leaving people to question whether it should be allowed to carry on its reign of private prosecutions (there were more than 4,000 last year).

Ms Nadian, a 48-year-old folk singer with autism, found herself targeted by the charity when she rejected a vet’s opinion that her elderly cat Ziggy had to be put down.

Having sought out two other vets, who backed her, the matter should have rested there.

However in a two-day operation in May last year the RSPCA hauled all three cats away.

Unfortunately such heavy-handed tactics are not unusual.

Over the past three years the stories I have heard from lawyers, vets, victims and even a former RSPCA inspector-turned-whistleblower have shocked me.

In a two-day operation in May last year the RSPCA hauled all three cats away

In 2011 Tracey Johnson and her daughter Sophie, 16, faced the RSPCA’s wrath after leaving five cocker spaniel puppies in their back garden while they went shopping.

It started to rain and a neighbour who did not like the dogs called the RSPCA.

Mother and child found themselves in the dock.

The case was eventually dismissed and judge Michael Kelly said prosecuting a child who had little involvement with the animals was “totally inappropriate”.

In 2008 a 15-year-old girl found herself in the dock because she did not disobey her father.

He had suggested waiting a few days to see how their cat was feeling after it got its tail caught in a door.

He pleaded guilty to neglect but his daughter’s case was thrown out.

Had the RSPCA won it would have made every child in the land who did not take their sick pet to the vet open to prosecution. Even then it tried to appeal the verdict.

Where once it may have occupied a space somewhere between the NHS and the Women's Institute in our affections, the RSPCA has become more militant in its pursuit of prosecutions, publicity and funding.

Well-meaning people are finding themselves facing the wrath of an organisation that, instead of helping and giving advice, takes no prisoners.

Apart from the three cruelty charges which Ms Nadian was cleared of she faced a fourth of neglect because her home was not as tidy as some.

Under section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 owners are now made responsible for perceived neglect. As part of the deal though, the RSPCA promised Parliament it would offer owners support and advice before pushing that button. In Ms Nadian's case, this did not happen.

The main problem is that by choosing to prosecute privately the RSPCA has made itself campaigner, investigator and prosecutor all in one.

How many householders realise the RSPCA inspector banging on their door and demanding admission has no more legal power than the rest of us?

The charges against Ms Nadian were dropped because she called in the Crown Prosecution Service to examine the RSPCA's case.

It is clear, however, that many victims have either not known they could bring in the CPS or were told wrongly that no intervention was possible. The RSPCA has now, after some urging, called for an independent review of its prosecutorial policy.

The problem is that Stephen Wooler, the former CPS lawyer heading the review, knows his hands are tied. Unless there is a major change in the law (as happened in Scotland) the ability to prosecute privately will remain.

So the best hope is that the charity will be forced to pass all its prosecution decisions through an independent filter, possibly but not limited to, the CPS. There is no doubt that the RSPCA, a oncegreat organisation, does much to protect animals from real cruelty and that its ranks include many honest people.

However it is worth remembering that we animal lovers have access to more than 1,200 animal charities and sanctuaries in this nation, all in desperate need of cash and none quite so controversial as the RSPCA.